When Ravichandran Ashwin made his Ranji Trophy debut for Tamil Nadu in the 2006-07 season, he was a confused young man. Bowling was his calling, but he also opened in junior cricket.
He had scored 212 and an unbeaten 40 in an under-17 match (the Vijay Merchant Trophy) against Hyderabad.
But he couldn’t decide what his first-language should be: Finger-spin or batting? Self-effacing to boot, he hesitated to approach his seniors. For the record, Ashwin was dismissed for a duck in his first Ranji match and batted as low as number nine.
Tamil Nadu had a forgettable Ranji season in 2006. They were on the verge of relegation after Karnataka thrashed them by ten wickets. Tamil Nadu coach WV Raman was livid; he asked his boys how each of them would contribute to fashion a turnaround.
They were given time to reflect on it before their next game against Baroda.
A few days later, a typically diffident Ashwin told Raman: “Sir, I think I can bat.” Even this day, Raman can’t resist a smile when he recalls that episode. “Ashwin obviously felt he could bat slightly higher up the order. I didn’t think the timing of his suggestion was right. We had more serious issues to deal with,” Raman told DNA.
Ashwin wasn’t willing to give up. As he grew in stature in domestic cricket, he did his utmost to convince Raman that he had batting potential. Raman had a condition though. “I told Ashwin that he had to get five wickets and a hundred three times to convince me that he’s an all-rounder. If my memory serves me right, he did achieve that on two occasions,” Raman said.
Make it thrice if you include the five-for and 103 against the West Indies in the ongoing Test. “Now I’m expecting him to call me and remind that he’s fulfilled the criterion I’d set for him,” Raman said in jest.
Raman revealed he had a reason to dissuade Ashwin. “I always thought Ashwin could be a good bowling all-rounder. I wanted him to be faithful to his bowling first, for I’ve seen our bowlers focus too much on batting on the placid tracks in India. They’re deluded into believing that they’ve batting potential, which is not always true. In my view, Ashwin could be moulded into an all-rounder. He is a serious talent.”
Railways’ Sanjay Bangar, who had witnessed one of Ashwin’s Ranji hundreds, said, “I’m not surprised he’s got a hundred so early in his career, for he started off as a batsman in junior cricket. He has all the shots, though his strength is driving.”
Some of the attributes were there to be seen on Friday. He was exceptionally quick against spin and often used his wrists to glide the ball between gully and slip. There were some meaty straight drives early in his innings. In fact, he had a better strike-rate than Virat Kohli during their 97-run seventh wicket stand.
“On the one hand, I was trying to handle the pressure, on the other, he was scoring so freely,” Kohli said, adding, “he had bowled well and was carrying forward the confidence. He was pretty relaxed and was just reacting to the ball. It helped me take my time and get myself in.”
Only two Indian cricketers have grabbed five wickets and scored a century in the same Test. Vinoo Mankad in 1952 (184 and five for 196 at the Lord’s against England) and Polly Umrigar (172 not out and five for 107 against West Indies) at Port of Spain in 1962.
Ashwin has taken only three Tests to be in the august company
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